The Captain walked up to Wolfe with a very stern expression on her face that he assumed was her inexperienced attempt to intimidate him and establish her authority.
While she was undeniably in charge here, as the ranking officer, she was barely into her mid-twenties and far too round-faced and cute for Wolfe to take her attempt to look scary seriously. The impression he got was more of a strict but gentle elementary school teacher.
That wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Everyone knew to respect and follow their teachers, but scary wasn’t something she could ever be.
“Good evening Captain. Thank you for the reprieve on behalf of the unit. Things were beginning to look a bit dire for a while before you arrived.” He welcomed her.
“Hold on to this for me, would you?” She asked, handing him a token.
“Is that a truth spell? I heard about this when I was a kid. My parents would threaten us that the Witches would come to interrogate us if we weren’t in bed on time.” Wolfe asked, reminiscing about his preschool years before his parents had passed away.
“It is. We had reports of strange things happening, and I need answers. First off, did you see or sense a special forces team anywhere along the line?”
“Nope.”
“Do you know who activated the [Lightning Storm Array] as the barrier for this flank?”
“I did that. I held the lead after all.”
The Captain’s face turned to something between angry and pleased, a strange combination that left her with a scowl but happiness in her eyes.
“Why didn’t you pass it to your Mistress?”
Wolfe shrugged. “They all had things to do. They knew I was holding the barrier.”
The Captain considered that for a moment, then carefully considered her next question, assuming Wolfe was like other common demons and unable to lie.
“Four teams with twenty Witches were sent to assist the flank. When the barrier went up and your group joined them, over twice as much power as their twenty could provide was added. I need you to tell me why that happened.”
“With the nine trained Witches, plus our team and the Familiars we have with us, that’s just how strong we are.”
“Nine trained Witches?”
“Four that were with me, five that arrived with the team.” He explained, then anticipated her next question.
“We were the target of a failed assassination attempt for political purposes. As far as the Morgana Coven is concerned, we died during an undead attack on this position. So, we agreed to join this team when they arrived and do our duty for Sylvan instead.”
“You’re easy to talk to for a Demon.” She replied with a smile.
“I am told I’m an excellent listener and quite pleasant to cuddle with as well.”
“And humble.”
“No, I’ve never been accused of that.”
That finally cracked her serious mask, and the Captain began to laugh.
“Just tell me what’s going on, so the command group will stop breathing down everyone’s neck about the hidden special forces team.” She asked, then sat down in the trampled snow next to Wolfe.
“Look at the Phalanx. What do you see?”
“A bunch of trainees, uneven spacing, good weapon discipline. At least among the ones who are still standing anyhow.” She shrugged.
“Is this unit supposed to have two hundred witch trainees?” Wolfe asked.
“That’s it. They’ve all awakened their auras. That’s the extra power. Can I ask how that happened?”
“It’s better if you don’t. You might tell someone who would want to try it on their own, and most demons aren’t as trustworthy as I am. The Witches did curse them into eternal slavery, then steal their bodies and memories after all.”
“They were enemies of the Covens, and the Great War with them and the ones we don’t speak of nearly destroyed the world. But I suppose you don’t need to hear that. After all, if the rumour I heard from your team is right, you were cursed on the accusation of using magic, so you were in exactly that situation.” She replied, giving him a compassionate look.
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“For what it’s worth, you seem like a pretty decent guy.” The Captain told him.
From behind him, Priya called out. “Wolfe? What’s going on? Did we get reinforcements?”
“The battle is over. We got four extra units just minutes ago. You can sleep if you need. They’re handling things here.”
“No, I should get up before you give away too much personal information to my cousin, and she tries to steal you for herself.” Priya disagreed, pushing herself upright.
“Cousins? Well, that’s unexpected.”
The Captain laughed. “It wouldn’t be if you knew more about our family and the Sylvan Coven. Most of the family stays in the military for an extended period. Quite a few officers are related because of family traditions like that.”
A soldier limped by, and Wolfe noticed that the wound was poisoned, with black lines spreading out from the scratch.
“We should get that soldier to the medic. Whatever scratched her was toxic, and it’s spreading.” He suggested.
“I’ll get it,” Cassie said, waving her healing wand at the soldier without getting up.
“Did that do it?”
“Looks like it. Excellent work, darling.” Wolfe replied and kissed her forehead.
“Thanks. I thought it was nothing. Then suddenly, I could barely move. I owe you one.” The soldier told them, then saluted and went back to work.
The relief force’s leader turned to Priya to give her an update. “Once we finish securing the area, we will rebuild the defences for this camp. Your unit will be stationed here for the time being, and we will assign soldiers to refill your numbers since you seem to have a plethora of trained Witches already, and powerful ones at that.
I am guessing that the change that I am seeing is due to a deal with the Demon, but that’s not actually illegal, even if it’s usually a bad idea. That will make your unit the cornerstone of this line when we leave though, so don’t hold back on the requests.
Something happened with the Morgana line, and we are headed there after this situation is cleaned up to see what they need to defend their positions properly. Both Sylvan and Myrrh Covens had to send them full Regiments of soldiers and Witches today.
Do you know anything about that Wolfe? I feel like I should ask you first. You know, since you’re holding a truth token and all.”
“I may know a thing or two. The suicide attacks ordered by their commanders made the draftees desert their posts. If you’re going that way, the runners say to keep your Sylvan banners up.”